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November 24, 2011

There is another section of the central city reopening for viewing -for a limited period and you have to carry ID ( so reassuring) ... and I don't imagine walking with my crutch would be well accepted when we are not even allowed to do the bus tours.. but at least i can watch the video.

Speaking of crutches, the archived reports from 15 years ago have been discovered and so, I now have a proposed surgery date for my knee next month so I can be "done" before Xmas :) Whether it is covered by ACC or Insurance - the surgeon has pencilled me in and I am hugely relieved. Just a day surgery, scary, but worth it.

Had a lovely sunny day at Peacock Springs with the students today - and we are off to see the "When a City Falls" movie about the earthquake that opens to the public tonight. Packing the tissues.....

Tomorrow I fly to Wellington for the day - bracing myself to travel around all the close up, high rise buildings without fear. I would really prefer to stay here in shaky Christchurch. Despite the earthquakes, I prefer the familiar territory to the unknown.

November 8, 2011

The demolition of central Christchurch's quake-damaged Copthorne Hotel is expected to be complete by the end of the month.

More than $5 million of repairs had been planned for the Copthorne Hotel Christchurch City, on Durham St, after the September 4 earthquake.

However, the 11-storey hotel suffered further damage in the February 22 earthquake and Leighs Engineering was awarded the contract to demolish the building on July 21.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) had initially considered using explosives to bring down the hotel, but the risk of damage to other buildings meant conventional demolition using cranes and excavators had been chosen instead.

Tomorrow the CBD bus tours start. For those of you who know the city - here is what you would see, or will see. I have to keep replaying parts to figure out where I am, what I am seeing and what should have been there!!

Very sad for us all and incredibly hard to watch. I won't be doing a bus tour as I can't walk out if there is an earthquake and the buses can't drive out. It is still a dangerous area, and we still get enough aftershocks to leave risks for people working on the demolitions. Sorry, deconstructions.

One positive is how sunny and light town is with so many buildings gone - new views and perspectives have certainly changed the outer cordon so I can only imagine how this tour is going to "feel" to people on the buses.

GNS Science natural hazards research manager Dr Kelvin Berryman said yesterday that aftershock probabilities had been revised to consider the possibility of Canterbury being at the start of a quake "cluster".

After most major earthquakes, the probability of aftershocks usually decays at a predictable rate, but in rare cases earthquakes can trigger fresh activity in nearby faults, setting off unpredictable clusters of aftershocks for decades.

Berryman stressed there was only a low probability Canterbury was in a "cluster", but the possibility had to be acknowledged when modelling the chances of future earthquakes.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining and it is Guy Fawkes - watch your pets please. Stressful night ahead for them.

Early start to get my daughter to the train. She is nearly up at Picton as I write, for a challenging and fun three weeks of outdoor experience.Soon the ferry will cross them all to Anikiwa and the adventure will begin,,, the texts will stop and a new way of life will start. So excited for her!
She has been helped by Riccarton Rotary and the YWCA and some kind benefactor who donated money to make sure Christchurch people got a chance to go. I think she has everything, except enough insect repellant which she forgot to get more of and might live to regret.. The sand flies are ferocious. She is allowed parcels from home.....
Outward Bound has a web site and her course is here:http://www.outwardbound.co.nz/courses/classic/
Wishing her all the best for her journey up there....Had her final text to say the train has arrived. Soon she will be doing stuff like this :)